Page 118 of Counterfeit Connection

“Are you all right back there?” Gillian asks me.

“Mmm hmm. Just anxious.” I take a moment and look out the windows at the passing trees. I can’t get a sense of where we are headed. “Are we going far?”

Jason shakes his head and glances at me in the rearview mirror. “We are almost there.”

I stare back down at my phone and open up the text app, staring down at the thread that belongs to Griffin. My fingers itch to text him, and I almost do, but the car rolling to a stop pulls my attention away.

I look around and all I realize is we are at the end of a long pathway that is nearly overgrown in grass and weeds. “Where are we? I thought we were going to the market in town.”

“You assumed wrong, Kaitlyn.” Jason turns from the steering wheel, pulling the sunglasses down from his eyes. “There’s something at the end of this path you need to see. Once you do,we’ll take you home and you can make whatever calls you need to. I think your mind will be clearer after a walk.”

“There’s nothing out there but pasture,” I tell him.

“Things aren’t always what they seem. Go. I promise we’ll be right here,” Gillian encourages.

I exhale audibly and get out of the car. I know I won’t win in this two against one. Once I close the door, a memory hits me. This land used to be owned by Mr. Anderson. The house that had been on the property for over a century fell into such disrepair that they had to tear it down. I remember his granddaughter and great-granddaughter watching the bulldozers take every board to the ground. The city now owns this massive acreage and no one can really decide what to do with it, so it’s literally a playground for horses and any other wildlife nearby.

The wildflowers are so high as I walk, I can have my hands at my sides and the petals tickle the palms of my hands. The leaves in the trees over my head blow softly in the breeze. Every so often, the wind blows just right and beams of light breakthrough and illuminates the path. Once I reach the top of the rise, I expect to see the remnants of the old picket fence still standing tall.

It’s true. I do see the fence, but inside of it are rows and rows of paper lanterns in connected squares. The scope of them is massive. It seems there’s even an outbuilding or two of them. In the center, standing quietly in dark wash jeans and a white linen shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows…is Griffin. He’s holding a bouquet of like three dozen red roses. Even from a distance, I can see his breathing skip when his eyes lock with mine.

My feet won’t move. I’m stunned. I’m happy. I’m confused. I’m also a little angry.

After we stare at each other for a few seconds, Griffin takes the lead by walking toward me. His medium strides with the sunglowing behind him is almost too much to look at. He looks so beautiful.

He rests the arms full of flowers he’s carrying on an aged pile of wood just outside the fence, after which, he pulls a lone perfect rose and continues his walk toward me. “Hi,” he whispers.

His voice is filled with every emotion I seem to be feeling. I can tell he’s trying to gauge my reaction. “Hi.” I accept the rose from his fingers. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to see you.”

“Most people would have done a video call, not flown across an ocean.”

“I’m not most people, Kaitlyn. I also had something I wanted to show you. I couldn’t do that over the phone.”

“Griffin…”

He gently holds a finger up to my lips. “Let me say what I came to say and if you still want me to bugger off, I will.” Normally anyone shushing me like that would get a very different reaction, but something about his demeanor makes me want to listen. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for so many things, I don’t know where to begin. I should have never let you go. I thought I was saving you from me and all that came with it. What I realized is I should have saved you from everything around us. That’s what behind me will do.”

Griffin takes my hand with his soft, yet firm, grip leading me through the fence posts. “Imagine a sweeping front porch from left to right. It will span the whole thing. It will face every sunset the world gives us. On that end, there will be a swing where we can sit together and talk. On the other end, there will be singular egg-shaped swings for our reading sessions. Here in the middle is the front door. It will be a grand one with two large doors that will open into a foyer. Come.”

He pulls me farther into the paper lantern maze. “On the left will be our offices. We will be together in one space. The rest of it will be an open floor plan in a combination of traditional and modern farmhouse. I want it to feel like the old house that stood here, but with all the modern conveniences. Up the staircase will be the second floor. There will be a master suite just like mine in London on one side and three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the other for guests or…”

He pauses to take a breath. Griffin is so excited he hardly skips any beats. “There will be a mega kitchen facing the back pasture to look over the barn with our Rockets and the pool, hot tub, and sauna. The barn will have everything the horses need and we can get more animals if you want.”

Finally, my insides are about to explode from so much information coming at me all at once. “Griffin, stop. Please. Stop.”

“I don’t know if I can. If I stop, you’ll have time to think. If you have time to think, I’m afraid you’ll tell me no. I don’t know if I will be able to handle that. I want to make up for everything my father put you through. I want to make up for everything I put you through. I can do better. I will do better.”

“I mean it. Stop.”

He closes his mouth and fully turns to face me. “Kaitlyn…”

This time, I shush him with a finger to his lips. “This is overwhelming, Griffin. I mean, in the last week, I’ve been put through an emotional blender. I was the happiest I’ve ever been, then the saddest, then I was confused when I saw the press conference with your mother, and now this?” I shake my head. “I’m scared because all I want to do is jump into your arms like nothing has happened.”

“Why does that scare you?”

“I can’t be hurt like that again. I won’t survive it.” I take a moment and look around at the lanterns. “You want to build a house here?”

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